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Senior clergy to testify over child abuse

Annette Blackwell

Three senior Catholic Church officials - including the Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson - will testify at an inquiry into the alleged cover-up of child sex abuse in a NSW diocese.

The inquiry, headed by Commissioner Margaret Cunneen, SC, will look at whether the church protected predatory priests in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, and in what circumstances Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox was ordered to stop investigating abuse allegations.

Separate public hearings will be held on both issues, starting in Newcastle in May.

On the formal opening of the inquiry in Sydney on Wednesday, an application was heard for leave to appear from Archbishop Wilson's legal counsel.

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However, the hearing was told the archbishop, who held senior positions in the diocese in the 80s and early 90s, had already been summoned.

Other prominent churchmen who will give evidence at the public hearings are Father Brian Lucas, the secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishop's Conference, and the retired bishop of the diocese Bishop Michael Malone.

The NSW inquiry was prompted by allegations against the diocese made by Insp Fox in an ABC Lateline program.

His allegations were also a catalyst for the establishment of the Royal Commission into child sex abuse, which will soon start its hearings.

Insp Fox was at Wednesday's opening with his legal representative.

Commissioner Cunneen said the NSW inquiry would concentrate on past matters surrounding two priests - serial sex offender Father Denis McAlinden and convicted paedophile Father James Fletcher, both now dead.

However, she said arrangements had been made for the referral of evidence outside the scope of the NSW inquiry to be passed to the Royal Commission.

In her opening statement, Commissioner Cunneen said Father McAlinden, who died in 2005, was regarded by many as having a history of sexual offending that spanned a number of decades.

It was in 2010 that the diocese acknowledged he was "quite a predator" who should have been dealt with earlier.

She emphasised that the sexual abuse of children was particularly abhorrent when committed by those in authority.

"It can be very difficult for children to break their silence about sexual abuse, and when they do, the collective responsibility to take actions weighs heavily on all."

She urged victims to contact the inquiry so their voices could be heard.

A large number of summonses have already been issued - with more to follow - for the production of documents from relevant people and organisations.

Private hearings will begin before the public ones.

Commissioner Cunneen pointed out the inquiry provided an important opportunity for people who had relevant positions within the Catholic Church to come forward and provide information about what had occurred in the past.

The NSW special commission is due to report on, or before, September 30.